She had promised to obey him. Then, sending him off on his nocturnal errand with a kiss and a smile, she had immediately disobeyed him, by turning back to finish cleaning up the kitchen. Her kitchen. The girls had already helped, to be sure, but things were not exactly to her satisfaction. This must go here, and that must go there, and so on.
“Cole is meetin’ with Paul and me at the jail t’morrow,” Ben now answered the anxiety in Letty’s question, as well as the words. “We’re gonna palaver some more, see what this is all about, and try to find a solution.” The moonlight turned his rough hair and his beard stubble to silver, and highlighted the clefts and lines caused by his smile. “Don’t worry, honey, we’ll get things settled. Ain’t nothin’ so bad it can’t ever be worked out. We’ll all pull together.”
It had been such a long time since some strong, supportive male figure had headed the Burton clan that Letitia was taken aback, and almost overwhelmed by the sense of goodness radiating out, like beneficial sunshine after freezing rain.
“Thank you, Ben. You are so reassuring. I knew there was a reason Camellia brought you into our family.” She managed a thin, watery smile of her own.
As they reached the boardwalk, he cupped a supportive palm beneath her elbow. “Glad to hear that. I was beginnin’ to wonder.” A chuckle, then as his hand brushed hers, he frowned. “Cold as ice. You gonna be able to get some sleep?”
“I doubt it. I may never sleep again. Ben.”
“Ahuh.”
“You’re happy he’s here, aren’t you? Reese, I mean? Or Cole, or—oh, drat the man!” she broke off in near-tearful exasperation. “What am I supposed to call him?”
“That’s somethin’ else you can work out. Tomorrow is another new dawn, Letty. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, y’ know. And, yes, I’m about over the moon to have my only brother part of my life again. Didn’t realize till now just how much I had missed the boy.”
“And you’ll really, truly, see how you can help?”
From his position on the outer edge, as they strode quietly along, he patted her forearm. “I gotta check in at the store first. Jimmy and Elvira are the greatest workers I could ask for, and I trust ’em to handle just about anything. But I been gone a week. Need to see what’s goin’ on, put out any fires. Paul and me, we figured we’d get together with Cole after dinner.”
“And then you’ll let me know what’s been decided?”
Again that reassuring pat. What a kind and caring man her brother by marriage was!
“Reckon I won’t have to, Letty. By the time we’ve finished talkin’, I have no doubt Cole will be makin’ a beeline outa there to hunt you down. Beat though he was, he was almighty upset with me for sendin’ him back to his hotel just now. He’ll for sure be ready to spend time with you tomo—well, good gracious, not tomorrow. Today. This afternoon.”
A few steps behind them, the sheriff and his lady were having their own conversation as they strolled arm in arm, as airily if they were just out for some romantic excursion.
The pretty moonlight aided the scene, painting even a few more unpalatable details—horse droppings, here and there, and a half-barrel of flowers overturned and rooted through by a couple of wandering hogs—with a pearly white sheen. Wagon wheel ruts also abounded to turn an ankle of the unwary passerby. Luckily, a thoughtful, random lantern here and there provided enough illumination to avoid these pitfalls.
Several blocks away, the Firewater Saloon was doing a landmark business, judging by the noise of an inebriated someone pounding the piano keys, someone else’s off-tune warbling, and occasional gales of laughter.
Paul considered taking a casual amble over their way, after he had returned Molly to her temporary sanctuary—just to pay a friendly little visit, ensure that all was as it should be. However, reconsidering, he decided against the idea. Burt Freeman’s premises were no more raucous than usual, and he hadn’t heard the sound of any gunshots, breaking glass, or screams. He figured the place would close down soon, with everything intact.
The courting couple seemed untouched by any of these distractions. Molly was murmuring; Paul was accommodating, bending his tall frame toward her to listen. While much of what she said concerned the momentous events of the evening just past, some must necessarily concern their upcoming wedding, the plans to be made, and how much they loved each other.
Things were not quite so chummy between the third couple, who were not really a couple at all but rather more like two mismatched fighting cockerels, spurs out, blood up. The doctor was accompanying Miss Hannah Burton strictly as a courtesy, and he had come to thoroughly regret his impulsive overture.
They had barely set foot outside the Forrester front door when the grumbles and grievances had begun. The hour was late; she was tired; her head was aching; and couldn’t he possibly walk any more quickly?
“For Heaven’s sake, woman, can you not stop squawkin’ for a minute?” he finally implored.
“I do not,” said Hannah coldly, “squawk.” She jerked her arm free from his distasteful grasp and clumped resentfully at his side.
How long could it possibly take to be conducted what had once seemed but a short distance to the boarding house? And why did her escort have to be this obnoxious individual, anyway? She could have made it by herself, in the company of these other two strong and stalwart males.
“Look, can’t you be happy about the good news put out tonight?” Gabe, stopping in the middle of the street, demanded irascibly. “Ben and Cam bringin’ the next generation into the world, Paul and Molly finally settin’ a date for their nuptials...even Cole’s return, howsoever things might be complicated.”
“Of course I’m happy about their good news. You really consider me to be such a dog in the manger, do you?”
“I ain’t really sure about the manger part. Then how’s about you get rid of that sourpuss look on your face and try smilin’ for a change?”
“I smile all the time,” she offered him something that looked like a death’s head rictus, “when you aren’t around.”
In the semi-darkness, in the semi-quiet, he peered at her with disappointment and something else. “Y’ know, if you ain’t careful, you’re gonna hurt my feelin’s beyond recall.”
“Hooey.”